The Crazies

What Jaws did for beaches is the same thing The Crazies would do farms, if farms were places people actually wanted to hang out to begin with. Nonetheless, Breck Eisners remake of George A. Romero’s 1973 film The Crazies makes a barnyard at night an even less appealing place to hang out.

The film takes place in Ogden Marsh, Iowa, a town of about twelve hundred people. A mysterious airplane has crashed in a nearby river and contaminated the town’s water supply. The water seems to be making people go crazy and it’s up to town Sheriff David Dutton (Timothy Olyphant) to try to save the town like a captain standing at the helm of a sinking ship. Dutton’s wife Judy (Radha Mitchell) and his Deputy Russell Clank (Joe Anderson) are his constant companions throughout the film. The three of them fight for survival as entire town turns violent and the government steps and attempts to sort things out with an equal amount of violence and force.

The film, in many ways, is a good remake. It has certainly maintained an old school and retro feel by using exaggerated lighting and limiting the amount of gore. Although gore is present in a couple of situations the violence is often implied and the scene ends before the viewer is exposed to all the blood and guts. Despite this true-to-it-roots style made the film more enjoyable the predictably that goes along with it may have detracted from some of the suspense.

Along with the predictably other factors played a role in ruining a number of scenes in the film. The majority of the acting, while not awful, left something to be desired. This was especially true in the more serious situations when the lackluster dialogue left lines feeling forced and insincere. This was almost always the case when Sheriff Dutton and his wife were onscreen alone.

Although this may have detracted from some parts of the film, it is, after all, still a horror film and the best scenes didn’t any include anyone talking, but rather screaming. A certain scene has the potential to be iconic. The government had set up a quarantine room for those they assumed to be “crazies.” Within the room a number of characters, including Dutton’s wife, are left strapped to beds after the government evacuated the area. As they lay in the darkened room another “crazy” walks down the hallway toward them dragging behind him a bloody pitchfork, which was apparently very sharp. The scene effectively captures a feeling of helplessness and utter fear.

What keeps the film interesting despite some setbacks is the cinematography and the highly accurate portrayal of a small town. A number of opening shots and a few subsequent shots would not look out of place in No Country for Old Men. They feature vast open fields and massive expanses of blue skies that look beautiful and cinematically sit nicely in contrast to the actual events of the film. While The Crazies isn’t a great film it’s a film that you’ll probably think about late at night at your grandpa's farm,and it might freak you out a little bit.